QUICK AND DIRTY: LIVE FROM INDIELISBOA

Orlando Pantera is barely known outside his native Cape Verde, and yet widely celebrated at home. His premature death at the age of just 33 in the year of 2001 prevented his yet-to-be-made recordings from reaching the rest of the world. He felt unwell on a Monday, and unexpectedly died on Thursday the same week – precisely the day he was intended to enter a music studio in order to record his first album. The case of a talent interrupted at a very young age, and at the most peculiar of times.

This is a fairly conventional 107-minute music documentary showcasing some of its subject’s best-known songs, performances and intimate moments, combined with talking heads interviews with famous musicians who have been influenced and inspired by his work (they include Princezito and Mayra Andrade, who also take the opportunity to perform some of Pantera’s songs). The archive material isn’t particularly extensive, and thus a lot of attention is given to his surviving daughter Darlene (who was six at the age of her father’s passing). There are no large concerts and iconic television presentations for a very simple reason: the talented singer passed away before he was given a platform into the mainstream, remaining firmly on his musical and geographic niche.

There is little information about Pantera’s upbringing, except that he spent six years in Angola as a child. He is compared to Bob Marley, however it is safe to say that his full potential was never realised. This simple and concise doc sheds some light on Cape Verdean music, explaining that its sophistication lies on its historical complexity: the confluence of various tribes from Benin, Ivory Coast and Nigeria resulted the polyrhythmic arrangements. Pantera was best versed in a music genre known as batuko. We also witness snippets of morna, funaná and tabanka (with the peculiar use of large seashells as music instruments).

Most of the images in the film were captured by the Catarina Alves Costa around the turn of the century. She aimed to make a film about Pantera while he was still alive, completely unaware of his shocking, impending death. The Portuguese filmmaker and anthropologist forged a genuine bond with the locals. They welcome her presence up to this date. In turn, Alves Costa allows Darlene full ownership of the film narrative, creating an hagiographic image of her father. The only strange and questionable creative decision is to make a film entirely devoid of captions. While giving the proceeding an air of spontaneity, those little familiar with the music scene of the African archipelago nation, will not be able to identify Mayra, Princezito, Lura, Tcheka and artists.

Orlando Pantera just premiered at IndierLisboa.